In the past, the television (TV) experience was simply that of a TV set receiving a broadcast over the airwaves and presenting the broadcast to viewers. Today, television has evolved. Cable and satellite transmission have dramatically increased the number of broadcast channels. In addition, televisions are often connected to video cassette recorders (VCRs), digital video recorders (DVRs), or other such devices that enable users to record TV programs and play them back at other times.
Television is frequently thought of as a source of entertainment. But television is also used to provide information. Even programs that are primarily designed to entertain can also include informative segments. For example, even though a sitcom is intended for entertainment, serious topics can be addressed in a sitcom. After raising the topic in the sitcom, a public service announcement can direct viewers to an organization to get involved or find out more information. Information is also presented on TV in the form of news programs. Finally, advertisements that occur during program breaks also present information to the viewer.
The information that is presented in a TV broadcast is limited by constraints of the format. For each channel of broadcast, the television limits what kind of data can be presented to the viewer to visual and auditory data. More and more, programmers and advertisers are supplementing the information that is broadcast over television by directing viewers to an Internet website for more information. For example, a TV advertiser might refer viewers to a website for information about a special offer. Or a TV show might itself have an associated website where viewers can find out more about characters on the show or even participate in a contest. It is the job of the viewer to then note the website, and at their convenience visit the website for more information. But by the time the viewer is finished watching the TV broadcast, the viewer has likely forgotten all about the website.
In addition, a TV broadcast might have a related web page, without referring to the web page in the TV broadcast. In this case, the user is likely unaware of the related web page. The user might also be unaware of other available content that is related, or similar, to a TV broadcast. Even though the user would like to see related information, the user cannot see the related content if the user does not know how to identify the related content.
Accordingly, a need exists to be able to identify and recommend a content that is semantically similar to another content of interest to a user.